1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an apparatus and method for in-line emulsification of meat materials and for preventing ambient air contact with meat emulsions. More particularly, the apparatus and method hereof are concerned with a meat-material emulsifier coupled directly to casing equipment by means of an imperforate conduit and an accumulator which aids in maintaining uniform meat emulsion flow to the stuffer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Cooked emulsified meat products include sausage-type products such as frankfurters and bologna cooked in a casing. A typical installation for stuffing meat emulsions in a casing includes a bowl chopper, inclined conveyor belt, vacuumizing emulsion pump, transfer pipe, and emulsion casing equipment. In the use of this equipment, portable hoppers or vats transport meat material previously ground to the desired particle size to the bowl chopper. The meat material is then dumped into the chopper along with other ingredients such as water, salt, sugar, and seasonings. The bowl chopper includes a closable lid and the meat material is chopped to the desired size within the closed chopper which draws a vacuum to deaerate the meat material. The chopping process also extracts salt-soluble protein from the meat.
Chopped meat material is then transferred from the chopper by means of a rotating disk assembly to the meat emulsifier. The meat emulsifier causes the fat globules contained in the meat material to be suspended in a matrix of salt-soluble protein. This is necessary in order to prevent the final proudct, such as franks or bologna, from "greasing out" during the cooking process.
After passing through the emulsifier, the meat material is transferred by way of the inclined conveyor belt to the infeed hopper of an emulsion stuffer pump. Typical stuffer pumps must also vacuumize the meat material because the meat is exposed to ambient air on two different occasions after chopping. That is to say, the meat material is exposed to air during transfer from the chopper to the emulsifier and during transfer from the emulsifier to the infeed hopper. The stuffer pump then pumps the meat emulsion by means of a pipe to casing equipment which stuffs the emulsion into casings. The stuffed meat emulsions are then cooked, cooled, and packaged.
A prior art improvement to the above described process exists which provides for in-line grinding in order to prevent exposure of meat materials to ambient air during processing. Such an improvement is disclosed in allowed application Ser. No. 06/788,765 which is incorporated herein by reference and which discloses continuous vacuum grinding method and apparatus. The applicatin Ser. No. 788,765 concerns an apparatus using a piston-type pump which vacuumizes meat particles and then pumps them through an imperforate conduit, through an in-line grinder, and directly into casing equipment thereby preventing contact between ambient air and the final ground product before stuffing into a casing. The method and apparatus of the application Ser. No. 788,765, however, do not disclose a method or apparatus for in-line emulsification or for preventing ambient air contact between ambient air and a meat emulsion.
Furthermore, the prior art does not disclose a method or apparatus for in-line water addition to a meat material after vacuumizing of the meat material. For example, in a vacuumizing piston-type, pump, water cannot be added before vacuumizing the product because the resulting meat-water mixture becomes too viscous or stickey for proper vacuumization of meat.